Fig. 3

Steady Aβ accumulation precedes rapid neocortical tau increase in PSEN1 E280a mutation carriers. Spaghetti plots show Aβ (top, a) and tau (bottom, d–f) PET levels in ROIs vs. age at baseline and 2–4-year follow-up; scatter plot (b) shows rates of Aβ accumulation vs. baseline age. Aβ PET (PiB DVR) was assessed in a neocortical aggregate (Neo., a–b); Neo. Aβ levels were normalized to an approximate Centiloid (CL) scale, shown in A-B at right; horizontal dashed line in a indicates previously-published high-PiB threshold DVR = 1.32 (15). Tau PET (FTP SUVR) was assessed in entorhinal (EC, d), inferior temporal (IT, e), and precuneus (PC, f) cortices. Vertical dashed line indicates expected age of cognitive symptom onset (44 years); horizontal dashed lines in (d–f) indicate two standard deviations above the mean FTP SUVR in non-carriers (EC: 1.26, IT: 1.42, PC: 1.30). Dots and lines are colored by subject group according to inset legend (top, center). c Gives the Spearman correlations between age and annualized change rates (i.e., slopes) in each PET variable (rows) within carriers (N = 12) with p values after adjustment for multiple comparisons